Contextual Approaches in Sociology is a collection of essays on a wide range of sociological issues written by researchers from several different institutions. The volume presents applications of grounded theory, social capital, education, social rituals and gender issues. It will appeal to a wide range of academic leadership, including educators, researchers, social students and teachers, who wish to develop personally and professionally. It will also be useful to all those who interact with students and teachers in a sociological context.

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Introduction Although caring is the essence of nursing (Watson, 1979), there is a limited num- ber of studies about caring interactions, especially from the perspective of nurses (Amacher, 1973; Henry, 1976; McCorkle, 1974). The focus of these studies is on the importance of touch. In these studies, they define touch as a way of caring. Whereas some authors (Leininger, 1977; Rogers, 1969) have equated love and caring, others (Howard and Strauss, 1975) have noted that there is a difference between ‘caring’ and ‘taking care of.’ To take care of someone refers to physical attendance and can be easily accomplished in an I-it relationship. By contrast, the essence of nursing requires a nurse’s presence, as well as an I-thou relationship; it involves giving and taking, as well as being in dialogue with the patient (Gadow, 1980). In addition, a holistic view that sees the patient as a whole with both psycho- social and physical aspects is necessary for the future of caring (Gulino, 1982). There is also a close relationship between caring interactions and quality nurs- ing care. As discussed by Erith-Toth and Spencer (1991), the provision of quality nursing care is very important for all health care organisations. A number of quan- titative studies have been conducted on quality nursing care (Donabedian, 1988; McGuire, 1991; Gilloran et al., 1993) and organisational effectiveness (Fields, 2013). These studies have noted the difficulty of measuring quality. To overcome this difficulty, qualitative research on this subject is preferred to quantitative re- search (Hogston, 1995;...

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